Demand for housing is picking up and housing analysts are pointing to lower mortgage rates as the main reason. The spring buying season may be coming early.In Coppell, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, real estate pros reported a traffic jam of buyers lined up on the front stairway to get into an open house.“It kind of caught us a little bit off-guard,” Laura Barnett, a real estate professional with RE/MAX DFW Associates in the Dallas area, told CNB
More young adults are still living with their parents and not branching out on their own, and that could have a long-term, negative impact to their finances, according to a new study from the Urban Institute. Researchers found there is no long-term advantage financially for young adults who live with their parents.The share of young adults aged 25 to 34 who live with their parents rose from nearly 12 percent in 2000 to 22 percent in 2017.The tren
Investors are taking on bigger projects and finding an increasing appetite for flipped high-end homes.In 2018, 2.6 percent of homes valued at over $1 million were flipped, compared to 2.2 percent in 2017, according to data from realtor.com®. Realtor.com® analyzed markets where at least 20 flipped homes sold for more than $1 million from January to October 2018. They defined flip as a home that sold twice for a profit within a year.The markets s
Homeowners can become “noseblind” to their home’s own smell, and that could be problematic when putting the home up for sale. After all, the smell of a property can have a big influence on buyers’ perceptions of the home. And no one wants to have the smelly house.Noseblindness happens when a nose detects an odor but determines it’s no longer an annoyance. It then shuts down receptors for that smell. As such, a lingering smell no longer
When a home inspector examines the property your buyer is under contract to purchase, you should know that there are some items the inspector legally can’t determine about its condition. Inspectors are bound by a set of rules that limit what they can share with a buyer. HouseLogic.com, the National Association of REALTORS®’ consumer-facing website, recently highlighted several points that home inspectors can’t tell a buyer about.© Peter D
The share of cash sales is falling nationwide, but there are many housing markets where they still dominate. Cash transactions made up 27.8 percent of single-family home and condo sales in 2018, down from a peak of 38.4 percent in 2011, according to real estate research firm ATTOM Data Solutions. But cash sales are still higher than historical norms: They averaged only 18.7 percent of all sales in the prerecession years between 2000 and 2007. The
Homeowners interested in earning extra income may consider turning their properties into short-term rentals. Vacation rental website Airbnb has grown to become a billion-dollar global company, helping homeowners arrange such rental accommodations at their properties. Where are homeowners cashing in the most on Airbnb’s growing popularity? These 10 cities rank at the top for Airbnb profits, according to IPX 1031, a firm that focuses on 1031 tax-
Now is a good time to contemplate how you can integrate charitable giving into your tax-planning strategies for 2019. “Money can be an incredible tool when you align it with your values,” says John Hagensen, founder and managing director of Keystone Wealth Partners. “It enables you to feel a sense of contentment that your money is working hard for you to help you accomplish goals that match your values.”For real estate professionals in pa
Real estate professionals say now is the time to purchase a high-end vacation home, and they’re already seeing buyers pick up on the cues.“We are seeing sales up in the resort areas, including Hawaii and Vail,” Stephanie Anton, president of Luxury Portfolio International, told forbes.com. She notes that sales and prices in Vail, Colo., are up over 25 percent from a year ago. “I think we are seeing people pulling money out of the stoc
Buyers don’t necessarily need an 800-plus FICO credit score to get the best rate on a mortgage. Depending on the market, some buyers with a 700 FICO score could get nearly as an attractive mortgage rate as an applicant with an 800-plus score, according to a new analysis for the Washington Post completed by LendingTree. The analysis was based on more than 1 million actual loan offers during 2018.Lenders turn to FICO scores—which rang
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